Insightful Musings on the New Testament
by
Ray Sparre, NU class of '67
Ray
has a wealth of experience as a Husband, Father, Pastor, Missionary,
and student of the Word. He believes and practices his faith where the
rubber meets the road. You'll find his writings to be practical,
insightful, and grounded in a truly Christ-centered world view.
Below
are links to a printable daily Bible reading guide which Ray is
following, and an archive of all his daily devotional
writings for 2010.
| Daily Reading Guide | 2010 Devotion Archives |
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16 Nov 10
Good morning, dear people.
Whew! Even though I rose at 4:45am, the morning has taken
off with such a burst of demanding activity that I didn’t get my whole
routine done. Oh well. I’m going with the flow. And speaking of
flow, that creek is sure doing it! There was a lot of rain in the night.
I
have a very big log on my mill that needs to be cut right away.
Better get.
Blessings. Make sure you smell good. Love. Dad/Ray
16 November 2010
Passage: John 12:1-19
Focus: “And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” John 12:3.
There was more than one sense of smell going on in
that house that day. A good question to raise is this: Who’s sense of
smell is most important? To the senses of Jesus, this deed performed by
Mary where she broke the container of very fragrant and costly perfume,
rubbing it all over Jesus’ feet, then wiping the residue with her hair,
was a very acceptable, pleasing, and aromatic thing to do. (I would
guess that people were following Mary around for a good week after this
incident—getting into the path of the fragrance she was emitting
everywhere she went.) But to the senses of Judas, who loved money and
the stuff it can win, the whole deal stunk! There you have it,
folks—this is a concise commentary on the conflict that still rages
between members of the two kingdoms (i.e., the Kingdom of God and the
kingdom of Satan—there’s only two, you know). Each one stinks to the
other.
I just checked the concordance and counted 39 times in the
Old Testament where sacrifices are described as being a “sweet savour”
(KJV) or “pleasing aroma” (NIV) unto the Lord. That has to be
significant. I’ll let Exodus 29:18 be representative: “Then burn the
entire ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to the LORD, a
pleasing aroma, and offering made to the LORD by fire.”
Consider also these odor-significant passages:
Ephesians 5:1-2. “Be imitators of God, therefore, as
dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us
and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Philippians 4:18-19. “I have received full payment and
even more; I am amply supplied, now that I have received from
Epaphroditus the gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an
acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your
needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”
2
Corinthians 2:14-16. “But thanks be to God, who always
leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads
everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we
are to God
the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are
perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other,
the
fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?”
Please understand that, while you may not have a year’s
wages worth of perfume to offer to the Lord, you most definitely have
something to offer. Any sacrifice of praise or service offered to the
Lord from A HEART AFTER GOD emits to Him fragrant aroma. Read Romans
12:1 from that perspective: “Therefore I urge you, brothers, in view of
God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and
pleasing (pleasing aroma) to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.”
I
dare you to get out there and raise a big stink—and a “pleasing aroma”
to the Lord.
“The perfect gift for someone who has everything — a burglar alarm.”